Housed ventilation



(No Model.)

C. H. HUMBERT.

HOUSE VENTILATION.

Patented Jan. 11,1887.

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NIIE STATES CHARLES H. HUMBERT, OF PITTSBUBG, PENNSYLVANIA.

HOUSEQVENTILATION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,822, dated January11, 1887.

Application filed November 19, 1885. Serial No. 183,262. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. HUM- BERT, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in House-Ventilation; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being badto the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, inwhich Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section of a part of the room of abuilding illustrating my invention; and Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectionthereof on the line :0 w of Fig. l.

Likeletters and figures of reference indicate like parts.

In the utilization of natural gas for heating purposes indwelling-houses and other buildingsithas been the common practice tolead the service-pipe on the outside of the building to the level of thestory where itis to be burned, and thence to arrange a branch pipebeneath the floor, and between the latter and the ceiling below, leadingto the fire-place or stove. Such an arrangement is liable to beproductive of some danger, because if a leak should occur in the pipethe gas is apt to accummulate in the space beneath the flooring, and ifignited would occasion an explosion, which would be the more seriousanddestructive on account of the confinement of the gas. No adequate meanshave yet been devised for obviating the danger which I haveindicated,and many persons are deterred from using the gas v on this account.

Another disadvantage, which has become apparent to those who employ gasfor heating, is the poor facility for ventilation which its use permits.Heretofore when rooms have been heated by open fire-places using coal asfuel the draft of the chimney has been a most efficient means ofventilation, and the houses fitted with such open fire-places have beennotable for their freedom from malarial diseases andother illnessescaused by close rooms and poor ventilation.

In the use of natural gas for; fire-places economy of fuel demands thatthe flues should be reduced in diameter, so that the draft may not begreat enough to carry much of the heat up the chimney, instead ofallowing it to radiate into the room, and it has been usual to effectthis result by putting a damper into the throat of the flue, by means ofwhich its draft may be properly lessened. The consequence of this isthat ventilation of the apartment is impeded, and there being verylittle incoming draft of moist air the air in the room becomes dry andunhealthy. The dryness is so apparent that it cracks and warps thefurniture of the house, and often causes great damage in this way.

. lt is the object of my invention to overcome the evils above indicatedby affording means for bettering the ventilation of rooms and for theremoval of leaking gas from beneath the floors in houses where thegaspipes are there arranged.

Referring now to the drawings, 2 represents a fire-place of ordinaryconstruction, having a grate, 3, and a gas-burner, 4, at its base.

5 is the gas-service pipe, which is arranged under the floor 6, so as torest within notches 8 on the surfaces of the joists or trimmers 7. Itleads to the gas-burner 4, which it supplies with gas. This is the usualarrangement of the service-pipe, and it is evident that any gas whichmight escape from the pipe would accumulate in the space I) beneath theflooring, and from its proximity to the fireplace would be in danger ofexplosion. To obviate this I arrange a ventilatingpipe, 9, underneaththe flooring, and extending thence up a vertical flue, 10, back of thefire-place, preferably to a point at a level with or above the throat ofthe chimneyflue 12, and above the damper 0. Both ends of the pipe9 areopen, and the draft of the chimney-flue is sufficient to induce acurrent of air through the pipe fromthelower end, a, into the chimney.This current will thoroughly ventilate the space I), and any leaking gasfrom the service-pipe will be induced along the latter and through thenotches 8 1n the joists into the ventilating-pipe. The flue 1'0 at theback of the fire-place corresponds to the usual dust-flue now in commonuse, and

there need be no change in the construction of the fire-place for theadaptation of this feature of my improvement. I do not, however, desireto limit myself to this or any other peculiar mode of causing theventilating-pipe to discharge into the chimney-flue. The advantages ofthis system of ventilating the space I) will be apparent to any onefamiliar with the use and the dangers of natural gas. \Vith this systemthe practice of carrying the service-pipes on the outside of buildings,together with similar unsightly and inconvenient safety appliances, maybe dispensed with, and the service-pipes may be arranged in the walls,as commonly practiced in the distribution ofil1u minatinggas, becauseany gas which may escape into the space between the walls will naturallyrise,and, traversing the space b,will pass through the ventilatingpipe 9into the chimney-flue.

I will now describe the devices which I have invented for ventilatingthe rooms of buildings in which the use of gas renders the ventilationimperfect. from the chimney-flue 12 down the dust-flue 10 and under theflooring within the space I) to a convenient point,where it opensthrough the floor 6 into the room above. It may there be provided with aregister for opening and closing its adit. The action of the draft ofthe chimney upon this ventilating-pipe is similar to that beforedescribed with reference to the with the heating of the room.

ventilatingpipe 9, and a constant current of air will be maintained fromthe room through the register and into the chimney-flue. It is desirableto have the register in the floor, for the reason that the' air removedwill then be from the coldest strata and will not interfere I do not,however, desire to limit myself to this arrangement of theventilating-flue, because, if it be desirable, the latter may be sobuilt as to enter the side of the room through the wall, or it may enterthe ceiling of the room below the apartment in which the fire-place issituate. There may also be several ventilating-fines for eachfire-place, each flue opening into a separate part of a single room, andin the same way, by a proper arrangement of the flues, a singlefire-place may be employed to ventilate several rooms or halls, whetherthey be on the same floor or on different floors. This system ofventilation may be employed with advantage in hospitals, factories, andother buildings in which good ventilation and pure air are desirable.

I am aware that I am not the inventor of a ventilating-flue leading froma room and discharging into a chimney, and do not claim, broadly, such adevice. My invention in this regard consists in the combination of sucha flue with a damper situate in the chimney, when the ventilating-fluedischarges into the chimney back of the damper. The result of thiscombination is that it causes the ventilation of the apartment in whichthe device is situate to be kept nearly constant, whether the damper inthe flue be closed or open, and that it enables the air to be drawneither through the throat of the chimney or from another part of theroom at will by a simple manipulation of the damper 0. Thus suppose theadit of the flue 11 to be situate at a remote part of the room from thefire-place say at or near the A pipe or flue, 11, extends ceiling. Thenif the damper c be opened the draft of air induced in the chimney-flue12 will take the most direct course through the throat of thefire-place, while very little will be drawn through the flue 11, so thatthe air removed will be that near the floor and next to the fire-place.If, however, the damper'c be closed or nearly closed, so as to out offthe direct draft from the fire-place, the draft of the chimney willinduce a greatly-increased draft through the flue-pipe 11, which willnot only compensate for the diminution of direct draft from thefire-place, but will draw the waste air from another part of the room.In this way the place from which the air is removed may be determined,according to the necessities of the case, by operation of the damper c,and persons are enabled to partially close the damper for the purpose ofincreasing the heat thrown off from the fire-place without materiallylessening the ventilation of the room. It will be found that the amountof the draft of the ventilating-pipe varies inversely with the area ofthe space afforded by the damper c. This would not be so if theventilating-flue opened into the chimney in front of the damper, sincethen the ratio of variation of draft would be direct and the goodresults above noted would not be obtainable.

- I have reduced my invention to actual practice, and have found thatthe device acts as above stated.

In order to protect the ventilating-pipes 9 and 11 from soot or dirtwhich might fall into their open ends within the chimney, I prefer tocover them with ventilating shields or caps of ordinary pattern, (seeFig. 1,) and in order to prevent clogging of the pipe 9 with dust itsinner end within the space I) may be covered with wire-gauze.

By the use of the word (fire-place in the following claims I do notlimit myself to anopen fire-place, but intend to include stoves andother heaters, the combustion of whose fuel causes a draft in thechimney-flue. v

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. As a device for ventilating closed spaces in buildings, thecombination of a chimneyflue, a fire-place for inducing a draft therein,a closed space, and a gasservice pipe located therein, and aventilating-flue leading from such closed space and discharging into thechimney-flueforthepurposeof removingleaking gas, substantially asdescribed.

2. As a ventilating device, the combination ofa chimney-flue, anopenfire-place for inducing a draft therein, a damper situate in thechimney-flue, and a ventilating-pipe leading from a room desired to beventilated and discharging into the chimney-flue back of thedamper,whereby the ventilation is made regulable, substantially as andfor the purposes described.

3. As a device for ventilating closed spaces containing gas-servicepipes in buildings, the

combination of a chimney-flue, afire-place for In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto set V inducing a draft therein, a closed space, and myhand this 16th day of November, A. D. 10 a gas-service pipe locatedtherein, and a en- 1885. tilating-flue leading from such closed space 5and discharging into the chimney-flue above CHARLES HUMBERT' the adit ofthe fire-place flue thereinto for the Witnesses: purpose of removingleaking gas, substantially THOMAS W. BAKEWELL,

as and for the purposes described. W. B. OORWIN.

